I remember how the mob in Iran in 1980-81 used the democratic freedoms to kill the partial democracy in Iran.

I remember in 1994, when there were a lot of concern about lack of human rights in Iran, some hezbollAhi zealots on SCI had created such an atmosphere of rob va vahshat, with labeling and profanity that subscribers were scared to express their opinions about Human Rights concerns in Iran.

Some other hezbollAhis were always asking why doesn't anybody complain about same violations of human rights in Saudi. Well, if they were sincere and their interest was Saudi, why didn't they go and tell the world about Saudi. But why does this make complaining about Iran situation unnecessary? I believe the atrocities and genocide against Iranians in Afghanistan should also be condemned by any organization defending human rights of Iranians. But that is not an argument for dismissing the continued human rights violations inside Iran.

This is how freedom in SCI was taken away by using freedom by the hezbollAhis to create an atmosphere of rob va vahshat so that nobody would talk about the barbarism of stoning and amputations in Iran or the imprisonment of Iranian intellectuals. Defaming individuals like Sirjani or Sarkuhi so that nobody would dare to defend them on SCI and this was using freedom to suppress freedom.

In 1994, some of the hezbollAhi zealot
obscurantists were telling everyone on SCI that the poor Iranian people do not care for the ideas of the ones who write on SCI, because we are all so-called Westerner. At the time, there were not
even newspapers like Hamshahri in Iran, to reflect even a little bit of the things democratically-minded Iranians
had to say.

Nowadays the hezbollAhi mob in Iran is again trying to use the partial freedoms of Khatami's government to kill the freedom itself. This is when they go out arbadeh-keshi and even hit the ministers of Khatami's cabinet.

It is important for us Iranians to find out ways to safeguard freedom, within a democratic model, rather than always losing the freedom that has been achieved with blood and sacrifices. When we have freedom, we think safeguarding it from mobs will make us dictators, and this perception has worked many times against democracy and democratic-minded people in Iran.

Are all the police in all the democratic countries not needed for democracy? An ideal democracy still needs policing but its police works according to laws and not arbitrary like the police of a dictatorship, but policing by itself is not against freedom and democracy.

This is how in 1979-1981, HezbollAhis just continued to threaten and throw acid and profanity at people, used harassment and intimidation to scare people so that nobody would dare to talk about their legitimate concerns about real political, economic, and international issues facing Iran. They killed freedom by using the freedom itself.

I hope some partial freedoms that are now won in Iran, do not get lost again.

Sam Ghandchi

Nov 3, 1998

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* The above article was first
posted on SCI (soc.culture.iranian) Usenet newsgroup
on Nov
3, 1998